Ohio St. upends Purdue

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Othello Hunter, one of Ohio State's worst free-throw shooters, hit two foul shots and made a big defensive play down the stretch as the host Buckeyes upset No. 15 Purdue 80-77 on Tuesday night.

The loss dropped the Boilermakers (23-7, 14-3), one-half game behind 10th-ranked Wisconsin for first place in the Big Ten.

Jamar Butler scored 23 of his 25 points in the second half for Ohio State (18-12, 9-8), which ended a four-game losing streak and might have revived its flagging hopes for an at-large NCAA Tournament berth.

Hunter, averaging 9.3 points a game, had 15, as did Evan Turner. E'Twaun Moore had 16 points for Purdue, which had won 13 of 14.

#1 North Carolina 90, Florida St. 77: Tyler Hansbrough had 20 points and Ty Lawson added 10 in his first home game in a month to keep the Tar Heels in position to play for the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title this weekend at No. 6 Duke.

North Carolina (28-2, 13-2) led by 12 at halftime and was never threatened in winning its seventh straight overall and eighth straight in the series.

The Tar Heels, who shot 70 percent in the second half, spent 11 weeks atop the national rankings before losing 82-80 to Maryland here in January. The Tar Heels returned to No. 1 on Monday after Tennessee lost.

#9 Texas 70, Nebraska 66: D.J. Augustin scored 22 points and the Longhorns (25-5, 12-3) went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final minute to hold off the visiting Cornhuskers (17-11, 6-9). A.J. Abrams hit a clutch three-pointer with 41 seconds left for Texas, who moved into a tie for first in the Big 12 with No. 5 Kansas.

#21 Marquette 67, Florida Gulf Coast 37: Lazar Hayward had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the host Warriors (22-7), which came up with its second-best defensive effort in the nine seasons under coach Tom Crean.

Kansas St. 78, Colorado 72: Michael Beasley scored 33 points to break the season scoring record for the host Wildcats (19-10, 9-6), who snapped a four-game losing streak and solidified hopes for their first NCAA Tournament bid in 12 seasons.

Virginia Tech 80, Wake Forest 58: Deron Washington had 22 points and 13 rebounds on senior night as the host Hokies (18-11, 9-6 ACC) won their fourth straight. No ACC team has won 10 conference games and not made the tournament.

Briefly: Clemson guard Cliff Hammonds said he plans to play Thursday night against Georgia Tech despite wearing a cast on the broken wrist of his nonshooting arm during Sunday's win over Maryland. ... Duquesne centerShawn James has torn cartilage in his right shoulder, and his status to return this season is uncertain.